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Equipping Faithful Leaders in Kenya

From June 25th to July 4th, our ICBM team had the privilege of traveling to Kenya for an intensive block-teaching trip. Hosted by our friends at Nourishing the Nations, my colleagues Stephen Briix, Donovan Blamire, Stephen’s daughter Charissa (who kept our administration running smoothly), and I stepped into a week filled with heat, rich fellowship, and abundant spiritual fruit.

A Milestone Graduation

We kicked off the trip on Saturday, June 27th, with a joyful graduation ceremony for students completing our informal "Trainer of Trainers" program, a strategic partnership with Kenya Baptist Theological College (KBTC). These graduates are now equipped to go out and train others within their own communities. Delivering the charge from 2 Timothy 2:15, I urged them to remain diligent, seek God’s approval alone, and handle the Word of Truth with the reverence and precision it demands.

In the Classroom: Handling Tough Topics

Throughout the week, we taught over 50 committed students. While Stephen took the new cohort, I spent the week with our returning students covering Spiritual Formation and The Characteristics of a Healthy Church. It was an extraordinarily engaged group. Beyond the core curriculum, we dove deep into pressing practical and contextual issues, including:

1. Biblical qualifications for spiritual leadership.

2. Addressing the claims of modern Charismatic "prophets" and "apostles".

3. Navigating the unique challenges to spiritual growth within the African context.

Seeing these leaders wrestle with truth and commit to biblical faithfulness was deeply encouraging. We are already looking forward to our next set of block classes this coming November.